Background Investigations for Police Applicants
11/12/2025 10:19:00 AMMokena Police Department
10300 W. 191st Street, Mokena, IL 60448
Wednesday - Thursday, February 18-19, 2026
8:00 am till 4:00 pm
Course Description:
This course is designed for background investigators, supervisors, and human resource policy makers. Law enforcement strives for professionalism; however, abuses by officers cast a negative light on the entire organization. An examination of the past behavior of some involved officers reveals that a pattern of undesirable behavior existed prior to appointment as a police official. This behavior was unknown to the hiring agency due to an inadequate or non-existent applicant screening. The integrity and ethical reputation of a police department mandates a thorough background investigation of police applicants. This course offers a systematic approach to background investigations which will assist in making informed hiring decisions.
Instructor: Joseph Mitchell retired from the Orland Park Police Department, a medium size department of 121 sworn officers in the south suburbs of Chicago, as Chief of Police after 27 years of service. Joe was assigned to Internal Affairs for seven years, supervised the unit for five years and has conducted, consulted on and supervised over a thousand internal investigations ranging from policy violations, Use of Force reviews including officer involved shootings, criminal allegations and subsequent prosecutorial referrals throughout his tenure. Joe's experience includes conducting internal investigations for a homicide task force. Joe has taught the Internal Affairs Investigatory process to over 600 police officers as an Illinois state certified instructor since 2012. Joe developed the organizations Internal Review process, disciplinary procedure and updated all relevant policies to include an Officer Involved Shooting policy to reflect best practices and scientific findings. His previous assignments included Drug and Gang Investigator, Patrol Sergeant, Watch Commander, Detective Lieutenant, Patrol Division Commander and Deputy Chief and was selected as an Executive Board Member of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force. Joe has a master’s degree from DePaul University in Public Service and a bachelor’s degree from Lewis University. Joe is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (Session #274) and the Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command (Session #221).
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